Pacific families warned as scammers target church and trust-based community networks

New Zealanders have lost $265 million to fraud in the past year, prompting a fresh warning to Pacific families that scammers are now deliberately entering church, family, and community networks.

The losses form part of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) first Reported Fraud Monitor, released through Payments NZ, which details how scammers deceived New Zealanders over the past 12 months.

The report reveals that victims suffered $126m in authorised scams, where they approved payments after being manipulated, and $139m through unauthorised transactions. Scams involving products and services accounted for $76m, while compromised credentials resulted in $84m in losses. Relationship and trust scams led to $31m in losses.

Speaking with William Terite on Pacific Mornings, Joseph Liava’a, the Associate Commissioner of the Commerce Commission, says Pacific communities face particular risks. He says this is because scammers intentionally exploit trust-based networks within these communities.

“The key message here is that if you're being asked to recruit other people and that's how you make your money, you're not actually selling anything. Ninety-nine times out of 100, that's a pyramid scheme and something to watch out for,” Liava’a says.

“Pacific people have been in the headlines and involved in these schemes. But what we know is that these scheme operators thrive in communities that are well networked with relationships of high degrees of trust. So we've seen, unfortunately, church groups led by church leaders getting into these kinds of trouble.”

Watch Joseph Liava’a’s full interview below.

He says such schemes often result in steep losses for victims, pointing to the Shelley Cullen “Lion’s Share” case, a global investment scam. Cullen operated the scheme from overseas and was later convicted and fined in New Zealand. Due to her location in Cyprus, Liava’a says it’s unlikely that victims will recover their money.

“With the Lion’s Share case, 87 per cent of the people lost their money. That means 13 per cent didn't lose their money and that usually is the very top of the pyramid before it starts collapsing. So the initial investors.

New Zealanders lost $265 million to fraud in the past year. Photo/Unsplash

“When people see money changing hands they say ‘wow, this looks legit’, that's how they get hooked in. But eventually you run out of people to recruit and that's how these schemes collapse and people lose all of their money.”

Language barriers also complicate matters for Pacific families. Ian Caplin, an MBIE spokesperson, told Terite that scam-prevention messaging must become accessible so that “language isn’t a barrier”.

“The messaging still needs to develop and mature. It's obviously something which is a moving piece in action. But also something that transcends, potentially even the basic messaging of stopping, checking, and reporting. Scammers abuse our politeness,” Caplin says.

Watch Ian Caplin’s full interview below.

Cybersecurity firm Avast has reported an increase in fake online shops during the Christmas period, with a more than 70 per cent rise in scam e-commerce sites compared to the previous quarter. During Christmas 2024, over 60,000 fake shop attacks were blocked in New Zealand.

Avast researchers say these scam websites mimic well-known brands and lure shoppers into entering personal details or payment information through realistic checkout or account-creation pages.

To help consumers stay safe, Avast recommends several key precautions:

• Verify website credibility by checking Uniform Resource Locator (URL), reading customer reviews, and ensuring sites are secured with “https”.

• Use trusted payment methods, avoiding sites that only allow direct card entry.

• Be cautious during sales periods and resist pressure to make quick purchases.

• Watch for red flags such as spelling errors, unusual email addresses, or suspicious offers.

• Use security software with scam-detection tools, such as Avast Premium Security or Web Guard.

• Report suspicious sites to authorities to help protect others.

Liava’a says Pacific families should be cautious of pressure-based tactics, often known as “dark patterns”, including countdown timers and warnings of low stock. He says never to go for get-rich-quick schemes, following the old adage “if it looks too good to be true, it probably is”.

“Don't give over your personal [or] financial information to somebody you don't know who's just contacted you. With other things like ‘ghost shops’, [which mimic] real shops [that get] people to hand over their credit card details. Then people are either not getting goods or they're getting counterfeit goods.

“So when you're shopping online, there are red flags like there may not be a physical address or contact details. There might be unusually high discounts across the store, say like 75 per cent or higher. There might be spelling mistakes in there.

“So there's a number of different things that you can do to keep yourself safe but also talk to your family members. It's good if you know something to share it with the family because we're all at risk.”